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We talk exclusively to stars Drew Barrymore, Justin Long and director Nanette Burstein about this new romantic comedy.
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We talk to the cast of this new British comedy.
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We talk exclusiely to star Tamsin Greig and director Stephen Frears about this new comedy.
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The cast and director of this comedy face the press in London.
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We have a chat with the stars of this dramatic comedy.
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We talk to one of the stars of this hilarious movie.
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We talk exclusively to Hit Girl about the hit movie Kick-Ass as it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray.
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A troubled evangelical minister agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew.
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We have a chat with the cast and crew of this terrifying movie at London's FrightFest.
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We talk exclusively to horror stars and directors at this year's festival and they tell us all about what makes it so exciting to them.
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We take a look behind the scenes of this action thriller based on a graphic novel with Josh Brolin and Megan Fox.
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We talk exclusively to stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman about this new coemdy.
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We talk exclusively to stars Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry about this new comedy.
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We talk to the talented comedians in the upcoming hit Grown Ups.
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We take a look behind the scenes of this new family comedy.
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We talk exclusively to the cast and director of this epic movie based on a graphic novel.
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The cast and director of this epic movie face the press in London.
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We talk to the Scott Pilgrim cast and crew at the London premiere.
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We talk to the Scott Pilgrim cast, crew and creators at Comic-Con in this exclusive video report.
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We talk exclusively to star Dieter Laser about his role in this controversial horror thriller.
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News Film
- Tarantino s Machete will open the 67th Venice Film Festival
- New York International Independent Film Video Festival NYIIFVF NY edition
- LA Fest documentaries reviews
- Mahler on the Couch is a Class Act
The 67th Venice International Film Festival will take place September 1 through 11, 2010, directed by Marco Müller and organized by La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta.
To be released on September 3, 2010 in the United States, Machete will have its world premiere public screening (all festival badges admitted as well) at the 67th Mostra del cinema, on Wednesday September 1 2010, in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema).
Rodriguez, the man who wrote a new chapter in the history of action films - from El Mariachi (1992) to From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) and Sin City (2005) - here directs an incredible cast, led by Danny Trejo (star of the original faux trailer) in the role of the legendary avenger Machete Cortez. At his side Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan and Robert De Niro, in the role of the corrupt Senator McLaughlin. Filmed in the fall of 2009, the film was also written by Robert Rodriguez, produced by Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellán and Rick Schwartz, and will be released in the United States by 20th Century Fox.
Left for dead after clashing with notorious drug kingpin Torrez Mexican ex-federale Machete escapes to Texas looking to disappear and forget his tragic past, but what he finds is a web of corruption and deceit that leaves a bullet in a Senator and Machete a wanted man. Machete sets out to clear his name and expose a deep conspiracy. Standing in his way are Booth - a ruthless businessman with an endless payroll of killers, Von - a twisted border vigilante leading a small army, and Sartana Rivera - a beautiful immigrations officer torn between enforcing the law and doing what is right. Helping Machete even the odds are Luz - a sexy taco-truck lady with a rebellious spirit and revolutionary heart, and Padre, a priest who's good with blessings, but better with guns. Carving a path of bullets, blood, and broken hearts, Machete's quest ultimately leads him back to Torrez for an epic battle of revenge and redemption.
Film screenings begin July 23rd on 2 screens at City Cinemas Village East.
In keeping with NYIIFVF s unique and successful formula of 17 years, more than 200 films from around the world will be in competition.
Genres include Animation, Action, Adventure, War, Urban, Sci-Fi, Drama, Comedy, Experimental, Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Fantasy, Arthouse, Crime, LGBT, Dark Comedy, Romantic Comedy as well as a compelling slate of top-notch music videos and documentaries. 31 countries and territories will be represented including: Germany, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Chile, Turkey, Hungary, France, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Israel, Greece, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Poland, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Nepal, UK, Bahamas, Canada and all over the US.
NYIIFVF s founder/executive producer, Stuart Alson commented,"Our festival recognizes independent filmmaking. Our goal is to give independent filmmakers an invaluable opportunity to show their films, meet industry, possibly win awards and give New Yorkers a chance to see some of the latest compelling movies on the indie circuit. Alson added, the internationalization of the festival is something I am a very proud of - I am certain we will be uncovering some indie gems as well as some excellent independent filmmakers covering important subject matter.
FILM HIGHLIGHTS:
Mulberry St., Directed by Abel Ferrara. 90 min. Documentary Born in the Bronx and raised in upstate New York, Abel Ferrara started his professional film career on Mulberry Street in 1975. For the past year he's been living on the block, and the feast of San Gennaro is the subject of his new film. While he has used this location for a few of his features, this time it's the star of the film. Cast: Matthew Modine, Danny Aiello, Abel Ferrara, Frank Vincent, Gianni Russo, John Cha Cha Ciarcia, Frank Aquilino, Shanyn Leigh and Frankie Cee.
*Screening Saturday, July 24th at 8pm, Screen 2
Freedom, Directed by Ty Hunter. 100 min. Thriller A Chinese woman moves up the street ranks of New York City through the sale of black market goods and human trafficking. Lady Chong creates an empire before a slew of murders put police on her tail. But Lady Chong will resort to any tactic to stay out of prison. Cast: Ned Callan (The Interpreter, Revolutionary Road, Doubt), Moon Ting (China Bai Mountain) *Screening Wednesday, July 28th at 8pm, Screen 2
Dirty Little Tales, Directed by Mike Williams. 20 min. Comedy.
Michael Musto from the Village Voice, interviews 'Daphane Goodall,' an aging Heiress who has been cut-off her Trust Fund after she rips through over 4 million in three months. She decides to write a sex tell-all book about her everyday Sexual Escapades with very young men!
The book titled "The Adventures of Needa Little" ends up topping the #1 best Sellers List for 6 weeks in a row. Michael knows Daphane and her affluent family, feels the need to find out why she wrote such a detail book for his New York column. Cast: Michael Musto as himself, Deborah Sinico.
*Screening Monday, July 26th at 6pm, Screen 3
I m Not Here (and she s not there), Directed by George Kaplan. 102 min. Drama.
An oddball, surrealistic painter falls madly in love with a mysterious girl he sees in the building across the street. He becomes obsessed with painting her--and ONLY her. Is she real or just a hallucination?
He will do anything to find out, even if it costs him everything. Cast:
Philip Wilson, Tara Stiles, Leah Cary, Alex Bone, Whitney Parshall, Megan Channell, Vincent Arrigo, Zane Robert Enloe.
*Screening Monday, July 26th at 6:10pm, Screen 2
Resting Places, Directed by Melissa Villanueva & J. Michael Kipikash.
48 min. Documentary.
A global phenomenon is spreading. Opponents want it stopped. Oscar nominated actor Liam Neeson narrates this thought-provoking documentary about the growing controversy surrounding roadside memorials throughout the world.
*Screening Friday, July 23rd at 2:10pm, Screen 3
The Dreamers Music Video, Directed by Barry G. Walker.
Our Hero awakes to find himself in a dream. Talking Heads, Sexy Sirens, and a Circus Show that never stops. Step Right Up. Step Right Up. But be careful what you wish for. Cast: Taryn Manning as the Circus Master, DJ Qualls as the War Torn Soldier, Mercedes McNab as the Angel Siren, The Dreamers as Themselves.
*Screening Friday, July 23rd at 10pm, Screen 3
Crumble, Directed by Renata Bialkowska. 20 min. Arthouse Thriller.
After losing her seemingly perfect husband Mike to sordid affairs and dark addictions, refined upper class trophy wife Lorna is lured into the seedy New York City underground scene run by Reda, a sleazy pimp, and boldly lets go of her inhibitions, faces her demons and empowers herself through an unlikely relationship with a prostitute named Bianca. Cast: Steven Bauer, Raymond Hamlin, Oksana Lada, Alexandra Grossi.
*Screening Saturday, July 24th at 6:10pm, Screen 3
Rollers, Directed by Romeo Antonio, producer of HBO's Caged In. 23 min.
Crime Drama.
Four Life Long Friends Head Off to College to Pursue Undergrad Degrees, and End Up with PHD's in the Drug Business. they soon learn that in the game they play, people die a good day. Cast: Joe Dixon, Mitch Eakins, Spider Loc, Josh Uema, John Barbolla, Armondo Pucci, Caroline D'Amore, Toni Trucks, Francesco Quinn, Ronnie Marmo. Producer Robert Rothbard (Director if Pizza with Bullets with Vincent Pastore; Director of the play What the Rabbi Saw with Eva Longoria).
*Screening Sunday, July 24th at 6:10pm, Screen 3
For the complete film festival schedule, visit www.nyfilmvideo.com. Al film screenings take place at City Cinemas Village East (181 2nd ave.
at 12th street). Confirmed red carpet premieres, talent attending and film panels will be forthcoming. After parties will take place at venues around Manhattan. Single tickets can be purchased in advance at www.nyfilmvideo.com for $15 (includes after-party). Media credentials can be obtained by faxing a request to 702-953-5148 on company letterhead or email: nicolefilms1@aol.com no later than July 16th, 2010. For all interview and review requests, please contact Nicole Holland at nicolefilms1@aol.com. Please check www.nyfilmvideo.com for daily updates.
Official Sponsors for the 2010 festival include AFFINIA, BLVD., City Cinemas Village East, ITN Distribution, Inc., Independent Film Quarterly (IFQ) and Boonie Productions.
ABOUT NYIIFF: The New York International Film Festival was founded in
1993 by entertainment impresario Stuart Alson and is recognized as the largest competitive independent film event in the world. Passionate about exposing the latest independent films from all over the globe, NYIFF is a unique platform for emerging and established filmmakers to network and screen their work in the hope of getting exposure and a distribution deal. Past festivals have included the work of Abel Ferrrara, Cameron Diaz, Dick Van Dyke, Eva Herzigova, Guy Pearce, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, Michael Madsen, Rod Steiger, Sean Lennon, Tippi Hedren, Willem Dafoe, Willie Nelson and Vin Diesel. Indie guru Abel Ferrara famously quoted in MovieMaker, "This festival is the real deal: Everybody else just talks about doing it, these guys just do it!"
This year's LA Film Festival had a particularly strong slate of documentaries.
and the following are a few mini-reviews of the creme-de-la-creme.
"SECRETS OF THE TRIBE" compiled and directed by Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha,
is a very thought-provoking documentary focusing on the interference of academic anthropologists in the life of an extremely primitive tribe in the Amazon jungle, the Yanomami, in ways that has threatened the very survival of these people. It is also about the squabbles and scandals among these so-called social scientists, arguing over the authenticity of their "findings", with some soul-searching thrown in as regards the irreparable damage they have been inflicting on the people they are theoretically investigating in the name of "the advancement of science".
One French anthropologist, a gay disciple of the famous French anthropological theoretician, Levi Strauss, spent 25 years among the Yanomami, apparently teaching the young boys of the tribe the fine points of European paedophilia. An American scholar went down to the Amazon and came back with a Yanomami wife with whom he has fathered three children who can't count past two -- the highest number in the Yanomami language. However he was black-balled from the academic community and couldn't find a teaching job. (You ain't supposed to marry these people --you're just supposed to write papers about them...) -- Made me shudder since I was once an "anthro" major myself!
"One Lucky Elephant"
"ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT" is a unique documentary starring elephants, one female in particular, who will break your heart if nothing else. The fortunate elephant in question is Lorna, a lovable pachyderm who was released from a life sentence as a St. Louis circus slave at the age of seventeen by her keeper and trainer who had fallen deeply in love with her -- and turned over to an Elephant refuge where she could live out the rest of her days free to roam greener pastures in the company of other four legged creatures of her own kind. The film is mainly about the separation that broke the former keeper's heart -- David, now aging and wheel-chair bound -- because the refuge decided that Lorna was suffering from post captivity trauma and needed to unbond from her two-legged companion in order to resume normal elephanthood -- therefore, no visiting privileges! In all seriousness, this is a truly touching, one-of-a-kind film, and obviously a labor of love as well as a plea for intelligent animal rights,
by lady director Lisa Leeman, who took ten years to film it. To be seen ASAP, and Lorna should get some kind of special Oscar. One wonders what Sabu would think about all this ...
"Vlast" (director/producer Cathryn Collins) means "power" in Russian and this review of the persecution, high profile trial, and eventual imprisonment of a Jewish oligarch-entrepreneur, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, makes the case that the new Russia, under the power of Vladimir Putin, former ace agent of the dreaded KGB, is now worse off than it was under Communism.
Following the regime change in the early nineties Khodorowsky, along with many others, became an overnight billionaire when he took over the petroleum giant Promos. When he got a little too big for his boots and started making noises about true political reform, even suggesting that he might run for office -- he and his followers were either hounded into exile or put into prison. Interviews with his defense lawyer, now living in the US, are particularly telling about the new Russian abuse of power at the highest levels, and the entire tenor of the film is set at the very beginning by an elderly Russian lady in a protesting crowd who exclaims "Vote for Putin? --Are you kidding! --We knew what would happen if the KGB ever got back in power..."
Director Cathryn Collins had no filmmaking experience before this, but did have a long term interest in the Soviet Union, and the result is a remarkably professional, informative, and rather terrifying piece of documentary filmmaking.
"Space Tourists", is a Swiss documentary directed for HBO by Christian Frei
on the recent trend to ultra high-end commercial tourism into space. The film takes us to the middle of nowhere in central Asia, to the decaying Russian Space complex at Baikanur, Kazakhstan, where launches up to the orbiting International Space Station, ISS, are staged. In 2004 an American woman of Persian heritage was the first female Space Tourist at Baikanur.
Anushka Anisin, an Iranian-American engineer, grew up with the dream of going up into space from early childhood in Iran, and was accepted by the Russians as the first female space tourist. Says Anushka, "Even it were a one-way trip I would still do it and give up my life for the experience". She sees a need for the human race to expand into space (as a Backup File) if it is to survive, as conditions on earth become more and more threatening to the species. The details of Zero Gravity living in space are shown in graphic detail, including the intake of floating liquids and the use of the space toilet -- obvious, says she pointing to the familiar contraption, where one has to be strapped down to perform the function in question -- if it's number two. She is so enthralled by the experience that she wishes it would never end and is reluctant to return to earth, but meanwhile back down on earth scattered pieces of the launch rocket -- fairly valuable space junk -- are found, cut up, utilized as dinner utensils, or sold off for their rare metals content by the local people out there on the endless tundra.
Hungarian-American Billionaire Charles Simonyi is also in there, but only in a minor role tacked on toward the end. It mostly shows him bycicling around in the snow in the Star City training center near Moscow, while preparing for his first space shot, which took place later.
The morale of the tale: You too can spend a week orbiting weightlessly on the International (i.e., Russian) Space Station (ISS), as long as you can handle a $20,000,000 dollar tab and can endure a rigorous physical training program
Alex Deleon in L.A..
This was a world Premiere scoop leveraged by Newsweek film critic David Ansen (the new artistic director of the fest) and was attended by many of the cast and production team. The film was shown at the vast theater number one, flagship hall of the Regal Cinemas complex, and was followed by a classy cocktail reception at Trader Vics just down the street.
As for the movie: Actress Barbara Romaner was salaciously sumptuous in the slightly vampish role of Alma Schindler and Austrian actor Johannes Silberschneider was a very close look-alike of the Historical Gustav Mahler. The scenes with Freud, with a rather comic bookish version of the Big Daddy of Psychoanalysis, were the least convincing and actually play less of a role in the overall picture than Gustav's relationship with the younger Alma -- and her relationships with her various other lovers. Much of the film was shot in Vienna and at the famed Vienna Opera House, which together with Silberschneider's uncanny resemblance to Mahler lent a feel of authenticity to the whole. Brilliant cinematography set the giant Theater Number One screen aglow, and the lavish production values made the picture look like a huge Hollywood production although it was actually made on a relatively modest budget.
Early twentieth century Vienna was the cultural crossroads of Europe and many of Mahler's contemporaries became international cultural icons. Among prominent historical names and personalities featured in the film are the painter and Art Nouveau genius, Gustav Klimt (Played grotesquely a few seasons back by John Malkovich in a forgettable picture entitled "Klimt"), the architect Walter Gropius, and the famous conductor Bruno Walter. Munich stage actress Barbara Romaner makes a dazzling screen debut as the object of Mahler's obsession, Alma, and the head turner of the town's decadent elite. This is as much her film as Mahler's and she is an actress I would certainly like to see more of. The style of the film is to have many of these persons, including an actress playing the sister of Mahler, talk directly to the camera about Mahler and Alma, in sections set off from the main wide screen story as if this were a talking heads documentary, which it isn't by any means.
What MOTC is, is a highly stylized, imaginative, and decorative dissection of an improbable but actual love affair between a famous composer and a feisty woman half his age, herself talented, who finally throws the great man over because, two children down the line, she can't stand living as a footnote to his frenzied work ethic and towering ego any longer. The death of one child acts as the fulcrum for their separation, but we feel all along that Alma has Mahler by the you-know-whats, and needs more solid loving than he can dish out. The relationship with Freud is pictured as cold, formal, and confrontational, but when they are traveling together on a train toward the end they finally do a male bonding number when Mahler offers Freud his hand and says "You can call me Gustl" (the friendly nickname for Gustav) to which the eminent founder of the science of Head-shrinking replies, "Well, then -- just call me Siggy"!
This is definitely not a movie for the truckdrivers out there, but it should cut a nifty arc in proper intellectual and authentic foreign film buff circles, and may even cross over to a more general audience of the kind that likes hot love stories, pomp, and ... circumstances.
Alex deleon
News People
- Julia Roberts to attend San Sebastian with Eat Pray Love
- Locarno Best Independent Producer Award Menahem Golan
- The Complete Clint Eastwood
- Stallone is trophy special guest at LA Fest
Eat Pray Love takes its story from the bestseller of the same name by the author and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert. Recently divorced, Julia Roberts (Liz Gilbert) embarks on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the pleasure of eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India, and the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Eat Pray Love will hit the Spanish screens on September 24.
This is the second feature from Ryan Murphy, who made his big screen debut with the tragicomedy Running with Scissors, featuring a top-notch cast including Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes and Alec Baldwin. Murphy has also created two enormously successful TV series: Nip Tuck and Glee.
Julia Roberts needs no introduction. She has participated in some of the biggest movie hits produced in the last 20 years.
Her first major parts were in the teenage comedies Mystic Pizza (1988) and Satisfaction (1988). By 1989 she had already bagged her first Oscar nomination with Steel Magnolias. International fame was just round the corner with her next film, Pretty Woman, (1990), for which she landed yet another Academy Award nomination. She was Tinkerbell in Hook (1991), going on to spend the following years starring in dramas and thrillers like The Pelican Brief (1993), Mary Reilly (1996) and Michael Collins (1996). In 1997 she returned to comedy, starring in another smash hit, My Best Friend's Wedding, along with Cameron Díaz, opening movie of the San Sebastian Film Festival in 1997. In 2000 she won the Best Actress Oscar with Erin Brockovich. Since then, we may have seen her in The Mexican and Ocean's Eleven (2001), Closer (2004) or Ocean's Twelve (2005). Over her career, she has had the opportunity to work with several of the big-name directors, like Steven Soderbergh, Gary Marshall, Mike Newell, Woody Allen, Neil Jordan, Joel Schumacher, Stephen Frears and Steven Spielberg. In recent years she has started leaving time between her big screen appearances to raise her children. Eat Pray Love is her latest movie.
Julia Roberts is therefore the latest in the line of great movie figures to have received San Sebastian's honorary award in recognition of their film careers: Glenn Ford (1987), Vittorio Gassman (1988), Bette Davis (1989), Claudette Colbert (1990), Anthony Perkins (1991), Lauren Bacall (1992), Robert Mitchum (1993), Lana Turner (1994), Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve (1995), Al Pacino (1996), Michael Douglas, Jeremy Irons y Jeanne Moreau (1997), John Malkovich and Anthony Hopkins (1998), Fernando Fernán-Gómez, Vanessa Redgrave and Anjelica Huston (1999), Michael Caine and Robert de Niro (2000), Julie Andrews, Warren Beatty and Francisco Rabal (2001), Jessica Lange, Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper and Francis Ford Coppola (2002), Isabelle Huppert, Sean Penn and Robert Duvall (2003), Woody Allen, Annette Bening, Jeff Bridges (2004), Ben Gazzara and Willem Dafoe (2005), Max Von Sydow and Matt Dillon (2006), Richard Gere and Liv Ullman (2007), Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas (2008) and Sir Ian McKellen (2009).
The Premio Raimondo Rezzonico that distinguishes an independent producer will be awarded to Menahem Golan, Israeli filmmaker, producer, and co-founder, with his cousin Yoram Globus, of the Cannon company. During the 80s he produced a multitude of B-movies and action films, but also major contemporary auteurs, from John Cassavetes to Robert Altman and Jean-Luc Godard.
Wishing to highlight a key figure in film, and to salute their courage, their ability to take a risk and support auteurs, with this Award the Locarno Festival has already paid tribute to the work of such renowned producers as Paulo Branco, Ruth Waldburger, Karl Baumgartner, Jeremy Thomas, the French collective Agat Films & Cie, Lita Stantic, Christine Vachon and Martine Marignac.
The Best Independent Producer Award was established in 2002 in memory of Raimondo Rezzonico, president of the event for almost twenty years. The Prize is offered by the City of Minusio.
Screening almost 35 films in total, including the above documentary tribute and such ephemera as the 1971 making-of doc of the Eastwood-starrer THE BEGUILED and PIANO BLUES, part of a PBS series that points to Cliint's passion as a composer/pianist, the festival hommage is sure to be one of the highlights of New York's summer film season.
The films, both famous and obscure, are here in spanking new 35mm prints. From Eastwood's breakout roles in the Sergio Leone "spaghetti westerns" A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964), FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965) and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) to his action hero triumphs of the 1970s (including DIRTY HARRY, THE EIGER SANCTION and ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ) to his emergence as an Oscar winning film director of the highest calibre (with such films as BIRD, UNFORGIVEN, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, MYSTIC RIVER and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA), the length and breadth of Eastwood's contributions both in front and behind the camera is the stuff of cinema legend.
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood was born on May 31, 1930 in a working class district of San Francisco. He discovered acting while in high school but soon was drafted into the Korean War, where he suffered tremendous injuries following a fierce battle. After returning home, he eventually moved to Los Angeles with his then-wife and made the rounds, finding bit parts on television. Eventually, he clinched a starring role in the 1960s tv western RAWHIDE, praised for his solid good looks and his taciturn tough guy persona. His first movie roles were in westerns, a genre that both elevated his status but also severely typecast him. However, his association with Italian director Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" of the 1960s made him an international name.
He then became an essentially American icon with is anti-hero turns in the DIRTY HARRY films of the 1970s and 1980s, many directed by his collaborator, the iconoclastic Don Siegel. Not content to be typecast as a violent loner, he tried his hand at comedy (EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE, 1978, and its sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN, 1980) which became his highest box office earners to date.
However, Eastwood longed to produce and direct his own projects and broke through in 1988 with the biopic BIRD, an impressively acted (by Forest Whitaker) take on his jazz idol Charlie "Bird" Parker. That film established him as a director with a strong vision and led to his next project as a director, UNFORGIVEN (1992). The film, a dissection of the American Western and his own involvement in the mythology of the genre which won him a Best Director Oscar and a second Oscar as the film's producer, certified him as one of the leading film directors of our times.
Since this astonishing achievement, he has taken on the subjects of prize fighting (MILLION DOLLAR BABY), existential drama (MYSTIC RIVER), emotional melodrama (THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY), Southern gothic (MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL), polticial corruption (ABSOLUTE POWER), space exploration (SPACE COWBOYS) and both sides of the conflict of a famous World War II battle (the astonishing duo of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA).
In the past few years, he has continued to astonish with such films as CHANGELING, with an Oscar-nominated performance by Angelina Jolie; GRAN TORINO, a mood piece on racial intolerance in which he gave an Oscar nominated performance; and last year's rousing South African soccer drama INVICTUS. He is currently completing the thriller HEREAFTER, with a script by Peter Morgan (THE QUEEN), and starring Matt Damon as "a reluctant psychic".
In his long and varied career, Eastwood has won 5 Academy Awards (as director and producer), five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and five Peoples Choice Awards, including one for Favorite Alll-Time Motion Picture Star. Eastwood, still marvelously sexy as he enters his ninth decade, is a true cinema force of nature, whose best work could still be ahead of him.
For a complete list of the films being screened at the Eastwood retrospective program at New York's Walter Reade Theater, log on to: www.filmlinc.com
Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor
Mr. Stallone, now pushing sixty-four (Born July, 1946) but looking more like thirty-four, showed up nattily dressed in a silver grey sport coat over a smart black shirt and slacks, topped off with a headful of smartly coiffed jet-black hair (not a gray hair in the bunch!) and the perfection of the image offset with a pair of large purple designer sun-glasses. An appreciative audience greeted his arrival with Cheers and whoops and were treated to a rapid-fire series of clips from his films --Lights- camera -Violence -- which brought forth more cheers and more war whoops.
Stallone became one of Hollywood's highest paid actors, and international box-office attractions, by playing muscular, monosyllablic, mumbling, underdog rebel heroes --notably in his Rocky and Rambo roles, but was more than adequately articulate tonight in tracing his basic rags to riches story of Hollywood success and international fame -- frequently interjecting the phrase "I swear to you", to underline the near incredabilty of some of his death defying adventures in the action film trade. Whenever he has strayed away from his patented power roles his films were usually flops, and his career was in a long slump until the release of "Rocky Balboa" in 2006 (Sixth in the series after a sixteen year break) in which he plays Rocky in later life looking back, a film which turned out to be career resurrection. As one reviewer wrote, "It didn't hurt that Stallone is in better shape at 60 than half of Hollywood under 30". Stallone answered questions put to him thoughtfully but with a sense of good humor and, at one point, hopped out of his seat to illustrate an anecdote with a forceful full-body reenactment which brought a roar of glee.
At the conclusion of the evening Mr. Stallone was presented with a mini-statuette for his contribution to the festival which he accepted in good grace as if it was another Oscar, and was swamped by fans taking pictures as he was escorted out slowly through a side door. Like him or not there is no question that Sylvester Stallone was the trophy guest of the fest and he seemed to be having a good time doing his bit.
While Sylvester has picked up the most Golden Raspberry Awards (for Worst actor of the year), 30 nominations and ten wins, than any other actor, living or dead, there is no arguing with his immense popularity or the success on the scale he has achieved with his better films. Fans will be able to see Stallone in action again, as star and director, in "The Expendables" in which he leads a team of mercenaries on a mission to South America to overthrow a ruthless dictator. With such stalwarts as Arnold Schwarzenegger and aging tough guy Mickey Rourke in the supporting cast the advance publicity assures us that "this is gonna be the toughest movie of the century". We'll believe it when we see it, but don't bet against the Italian Stallion.
by Alex Deleon
News Award
- 2010 Summer NYIFVF Awards
- Locarno Open Doors Awards 2010
- Jeremy Irons to receive Ischia Legend Award
- LA comedy Shorts Winners announced
Best Film Awards (USA)
Best Feature Film- Tied to A Chair
Best Short Film - Takeo
Best Feature Documentary - Mulberry St.
Best Short Documentary - Mas Man Peter Minshall
Best Film Awards (International)
Best Feature Film - Attack on Darfur
Best Short Film - Worm
Best Feature Documentary - Coming Clean
Best Short Documentary - The Liquid of Life (Nozel Hahayim)
Audience Awards (USA)
Feature - Tied to A Chair
Short - Swing, Set
Feature Documentary - Mother's Way, Daughter's Choice
Short Documentary- Brilliance or Buffoonery
Audience Awards (International)
Feature - Evdale Zeynike
Short- Another Time, Another Pace
Feature Documentary - Coming Clean
Short Documentary - Children of Stalinism Series: Dasha is coming Back, For My Dad, I Am Not Afraid to Speak , One Life
Best Director Awards (USA)
Best Director of a Feature Film- Joe Goodavage for "The Last Gamble"
Best Director of a Short Film- Brandon Laganke for "Bunny Boy"
Best Director of a Documentary - Abel Ferrara for "Mulberry St."
Best Directorial Debut (Feature) - Hamish McCollester for "Jason's Big Problem"
Best Directorial Debut (Short) - Renata Bialkowska for "Crumble"
Best Directorial Debut (Feature Documentary) - Thomas McAlevey for "Adventuress Wanted"
Best Directorial Debut (Short Documentary) - Joan Babich Lipstock and Paul Tait Roberts for "Dreamerstheater"
Best Director Awards (International)
Best International Directors of a Feature Film- Mark Pagliaroli and Antonio Ienco for "The Invaders: Genesis"
Best International Director of a Short Film- Jan Dirk Peereboom Voller for "Intermezzo"
Best International Director of a Documentary - Pierre Plante for "Le Sexe a 50 ans + ou"
Best Directorial Debut (Feature) - Bulent Gunduz for "Evdale Zeynike"
Best Directorial Debut (Short) - Yves Martin Allard for "101-102"
Best International Directorial Debut (Feauture Documentary)- Brendan Kerins for "John Cash's Tipperary in July"
Best Directorial Debut (Short Documentary) - Ariel Soto for "WAQAYNAN-Imaginary Road"
Best Feature Film (USA) - Genre Awards
Best Drama Feature - Marathon
Best Comedy Feature - Jason's Big Problem
Best Action Feature - The Animal I've Become
Best Horror Feature - Krackoon
Best Thriller Feature - Freedom
Best Experimental Feature - Random Unrelated Projects
Best Sci-Fi Feature - Encounter: Omzion
Best Romantic Dramedy -Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Best Police Drama Feature - Collar
Best Historical Drama Feature - Papa: The Man, The Myth, The Legend
Best Dark Comedy Feature - Mara
Best Crime Feature - Old Secrets, No Lies
Best Urban Feature - Kreyol Boyz
Best Suspense Feature -Haiti Cherie: Wind of Hope
Best Feature Film (International) - Genre Awards
Best International Drama Feature - Side Effects/Efeitos Secundarios
Best International Comedy Feature- Novak
Best International Action Feature - The Invaders: Genesis
Best International Horror Feature- Toxic Lullaby
Best International Thriller Feature - The Code
Best International Experimental Feature - Shut Your Eyes
Best International Sci-Fi Feature -X Meeting
Best International Romantic Comedy Feature- Selanchi
Best International War Feature - Tobruk
Best International Fantasy Feature - Gouddaa Sons of Tition I
Best International Arthouse Feature - Art et Deces
Best International Adventure Feature - A Long Time Ago in Ilza
Best Short Film (USA) - Genre Awards
Best Drama Short- Déjà vu
Best Experimental Short- Awaken Your Senses
Best Comedy Short - Hero Hero
Best Dark Comedy Short - The Roast
Best Narrative Short - Mother's Cave
Best Suspense Short - Denial
Best Thriller Short - Clemency
Best Sci-Fi Short - The Turing Love Affair
Best Music Video - The Return of the Jitney Man
Best Animation - The Story of Night & Day
Best Video Art Short - A Woman I Once Knew
Best Docu-Drama Short - We The People 2010
Best GLBT Short - Chronic Pain
Best Sci-Fi Short - The Turing Love Affair
Best TV Pilot - Hard to Be Me
Best Musical Short- Expected (Jesus Christ in Union Square)
Best Action Short - Ghost Soldier
Best Horror Short- The Spell
Best Crime Short - Rollers
Best Family Short - Virtue
Best Romantic Comedy Short - A Fugue for Two Tap Dancers and Two Musicians
Best Urban Short - Panic
Best Film Noir Short - Purity
Best Fantasy Short - Manhattan Mermaid
Best Avant Garde - Pink Seas
Best Improv - PALS
Best Short Film (International)
Best International Drama Short - Bear Tung
Best International Experimental Short - Another Time, Another Pace
Best International Comedy Short-The Chariot
Best International Dark Comedy - Desk Job
Best International Narrative Short - Rian/Trace
Best International Suspense Short -Found
Best International Thriller Short - Hokum
Best International Sci-Fi Short - Star Wars: Blasted Behavior
Best International Music Video -Cape Nape & The Foundation: "Countless Ways"
Best International Animation Short - Agent Tax
Best International Video Art Short - Mary!
Best International DocuDrama Short - Paris La Nuit
Best International GLBT Short -La Visita (The Guest)
Best International Student Short - Love Me For Who I Am
Best International Musical Short - Wendell Ferguson's Cranky Christmas
Best International Mockumentary Short - The Unknown Touchit
Documentary Awards (USA)
Best Music Documentary - Founding Fathers "The Untold Story of Hip Hop"
Best Cultural Documentary - Mother's Way, Daughter's Choice
Best Social Documentary - A Community Heroes Documentary: Urban Warfare: The Peaceful Warriors
Best Biographical Documentary - A Sicilian Odyssey
Best Medical Documentary - Medicinal 101
Best Urban Documentary - Dirty' One Word Can Change the World
Best Reality Documentary -Paparazzi: Full Throttle LA
Best Comedy Documentary -Legalized Mafia
Best Global Documentary - One! The Garry Davis Story
Best Educational Documentary - Making A Difference: The Ascent Youth Alliance to Battle Autism
Best Agriculture Documentary - Fowl Play: The Untold Story Behind Your Breakfast
Best Sports Documentary - The Pride of Lions
Best Student Documentary - Einstein's Innovation: The Theory That Changed The World
Best New York Documentary - The View From Sunset Park
Documentary Awards (International)
Best International Music Documentary -Astralis: Institucija/Astralis: Institution
Best International Music Video Documentary - Haiti Get Back Up
Best International Musical Documentary - Punk Strut -The Movie
Best International Cultural Documentary - Moleman - The Truth Lies Down Under
Best International Social (Feature) Documentary - Le Sexe a 50 Ans + Ou
Best International Social (Short) Documentary - Soft Power Health
Best International Biographical Documentary - Silesian Streets and German Potatoes
Best International Geographical Documentary - John Cash's Tipperary in July
Best International Historical Documentary - Children of Stalinism Series: Dasha is coming Back, For My Dad, I Am Not Afraid to Speak , One Life
Best International GLBT Documentary - All About Gay Sex
Best International Hip Hop Documentary - Homeboys
Best International Human Rights Documentary - The Monsters in My Home
Actor Awards
Best Actor in a Feature Film- Steven Bauer in "The Last Gamble"
Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film - Nick Mancuso in "The Last Gamble"
Best Actress in a Feature Film -Bonnie Loren in "Tied to A Chair"
Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film - Sally Kirkland in "The Last Gamble"
Best Actor in a Short Film - Claude Laniado in "Roy"
Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film - Steven Bauer in "Crumble"
Best Actress in a Short Film - Sydney Sweeney in "Takeo"
Best Supporting Actress in a Short Film - Caroline D'Amore in "Rollers"
Best Screenplay (USA)
Best Screenplay (Feature) -I'm Not Here (And She's Not There)
Best Screenplay (Short) - In The Care of Evil
Best Screenplay (International)
Best Screenplay (Feature) - Tobruk
Best Screenplay (Short) - The Uneventful Life of Gerrard Giles
The 2010 session was devoted to cinema from Central Asia. 12 projects, selected out of 114 applications from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, participated in the Open Doors Factory, organised with the collaboration of the Festival Industry Office. The objective of the 4-day workshop that took place during the Festival, was to assist the selected directors and producers to find co-production partners and to complete their films.
The jury, composed by Martina Malacrida and Joël Chapron for the Festival del film Locarno, by Walter Ruggle and Martial Knaebel representing the Swiss support fund for production "visions sud est", and by Annamaria Lodato and Remi Burah for ARTE decided upon the following grants, awarded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC):
Grant for production Open Doors 50.000 CHF
- SUNNY DAYS by Nariman Turebayev produced by Limara Zheksembayeva (Kazakhstan)
Grant for development CNC (Centre National du cinéma et de l'image animée) 7.000 Euros
- ARAL by Ella Vakkasova (Uzbekistan)
Grant for development ARTE 6.000 Euros
- BARZAGH by Saodat Ismailova (Uzbekistan)
Aside from the workshop, the Open Doors Screenings, aimed at both festival goers and professional delegates, will run until the end of the Festival. The 2010 programme presents a selection of 12 key films made in recent years in Central Asia.
This year, the Ischia Global Film & Music Fest 2010 (July 11th-18th) will be officially opened by the premiere of Oliver Stone's "Wall Street Money Never Sleeps" and the Master of Ceremonies will be Eleonora Abbagnato. This year edition will be dedicated to Mexico.
In addition to international film premieres on the magic screen of Regina Isabella's bay, the Festival will feature screenings in the movie theatres of Forio and Ischia Porto as well as concerts, performances and meetings with the stars in the most picturesque locations of the Island. Among the most eagerly awaited events, the Social Cinema Forum dedicated to the recovery of real values for young people, chaired by producer Trudie Styler. The event also includes a short film contests (www.socialcinemaforum.com)".
Ischia Global Film & Music Fest (www.ischiaglobal.com) is produced by Pascal Vicedomini and is promoted by Accademia Internazionale Arte Ischia in association with the Agency for Tourism of Naples and with the support of the Tourism Department of the Campania Region and the Cinema Division of the Ministry of Culture.
"All we wanted to do is make it ok for America to laugh their butts off at things that are short and funny. We did it. Now this country is safe again. You can thank us later. No. Wait. Thank us now." said Festival Artistic Director Gary Anthony Williams.
No sophomore slump here, the second year featured sold-out screenings and jam-packed parties. "It was quite sentimental actually, watching folks from around the World chuckle and chortle at great short films, seeing cupcakes shoved in their faces by men in little shorts, and watching them lob ping pong balls into cups of beer,' says Jeannie Roshar, Festival Director.
Hosted by the famed Sklar Brothers, Randy and Jason, the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival celebrated the seriously gifted actress Missi Pyle, who received the 2nd Annual COMMIE AWARD in recognition of her comedic genius, presented by her friend and co-star Brooke Dillman - one of the funniest comedic actresses that nobody knows.
Awards were also handed out to the winning filmmakers and screenwriters who competed for over $30,000 in cash and prizes in the following categories: The Funny or Die Best-of-Fest Grand Prize, Atom.com Best Comedy Short Film (30 minutes or less), Best Comedy Shortie' Short (5 minutes or less) and Atom.com Best Animated Comedy Short (30 minutes or less), as well as the Audience Choice Award.
Among the many fantastic shorts that were featured last year, a number of films and filmmakers were presented with some exciting opportunities such as the Atom.com winner A Bit of Counseling, which went on to air on Comedy Central; the filmmaker of the Best-of-Fest winning film Captain Coulier has a pilot in development; the filmmakers from Darryl From OnCar are now writing for Nickelodeon and the director went on to direct episodic TV, and Fremantle Media signed deals with three filmmakers. In addition, several agencies have already expressed interest in this year's winning screenplays.
"We were very impressed by the inaugural festival," said Roshar, "but now we really think we have outdone ourselves. So our 2009 selves feel bad but our 2010 selves feel real smug!"
Presenters and attendees included Aisha Tyler (CSI, The Ghost Whisperer), Dave Koechner (The Office, Funny Or Die), Jason & Randy Sklar (Cheap Seats, Wild Hogs), Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911!), Debra Wilson (MadTV), Michaela Watkins (SNL), Nicole Parker (MadTV), Jordan Peele (MadTV), Karen Maruyama (Whose Line Is It Anyway?), Larry Joe Campbell (Weeds, According to Jim), Aaron McGruder (The Boondocks), Maurice LaMarche (Futurama) and Tara Strong (Powerpuff Girls), Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants), Jill Talley (The Boondocks).
Winners for the 2010 Los Angeles Comedy Shorts Film Festival are:
Best Comedy Shortie-Short
Traffic Signals, directed by Lori Elberg and Tanya Bershadsky
A guide to road rage for the hearing-impaired.
Atom.com Best Comedy Short
Blood From a Stone, directed by Bill Palmer
Before Jason Bourne insisted that action cinema start taking itself seriously, there was a time when muscle-bound macho men would break arms, sever limbs and spit one-liners without ever hesitating to muse about rules, consequences or ethical behavior. That time was the 1980s. Those men had names like Arnold, Sly, Dolph and Chuck. PG-13 was not in their vocabulary. And you can bet your ass, it's not in Sean Sharpstone's either.
Atom.com Best Comedy Animated Short
The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger by Bill Plympton
Seduced by advertising, a cow is tragically led into the hands of butchers and carnivores.
Funny or Die Best-of-Fest
The Action Hero's Guide to Saving Lives directed by Justin Lutsky, starring Patrick Warburton
When lives are on the line... When there's danger at every turn... When clichés run amuck... Sometimes the best thing to do is call Mulligan! Ace Mulligan! Starring Patrick Warburton, "The Action Hero's Guide To Saving Lives" is a laugh-out-loud action-comedy that takes you behind the scenes of Ace Mulligan's perilous and not-always-successful mission to stop the bad guys, get the girl, and save the day. It's not always easy being an action hero.
L.A. Comedy Shorts Audience Award
A Short Film, by Rick Williamson, starring Marty Klebba
The epitome of a short western film; short actors, short horses and long credits.
The Winners of the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival Screenplay Competition presented by Movie Magic Screenwriter, are:
LA Comedy Scripts Best Comedy Short
Cuckoo by Kristi Barnett
One man, many clocks... no bird. Arthur Bunt has a space on his Wall of Clocks and the clock that's going there won't play ball.
Movie Magic Screenwriter Screenplay Competition Best Comedy Feature
Super Fun Time Happy Pizza by Dennis Xenos & Rob Nardecchia
Jack Jackson runs the streets of Newtonbrook as the town's number one pizza delivery driver. But Jack's world is flipped upside down when an old high school classmate, Sharlene, returns home after 18 years and introduces Jack to Trevor... his son! Suddenly, Jack is caught in a tug of war with Sharlene's lesbian partner, Coyote, for only one can claim the title of Trevor's dad. Meanwhile, the town of Newtonbrook is thrown into peril by the diabolical plan of wealthy local businessman, Don Lorenzo Wong. Now Jack and Coyote must put their differences aside and join forces in order to not only save Trevor and Sharlene, but the town of Newtonbrook as well.
LA Comedy Scripts Best Half-Hour Comedy TV Pilot
Upstate by Charlie Robinson
A New York City politico loses his job in a scandal and is forced to take a job upstate where he quickly learns the meaning of community.
LACSFF (www.lacomedyshorts.com) is a four-day, non-stop celebration of comedic short films held at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles. The Festival prides itself on introducing the newest and hottest comedic talent to the industry in a fun-packed weekend of screenings, parties, industry panels and a star-studded red carpet awards event.
Daily coverage by Kim Deisler
News Festival
- The 13th Annual Arpa International Film Festival 2010 Program of Films
- Introducing EDN Online Pitching
- BLUE Ocean Film Festival awards in Monterey
- Tallahassee Film Festival wrapped
- Lumi re 2010 les dates cl s
- Telluride 37 drawss to a close
- Three cities united by an Ibero American festival
- Oldenburg Festivalhighlights 2010
- Digital Audiovisual Forum in San Sebastian
- Telluride Film Festival opens today program just revealed
The program includes an outdoor screening of the opening night film Amo-Bek-Nazaryan's 1926 silent epic "Namus" (Honor) based on the play of the same name by Alexander Shirvanzade who also penned the screenplay and Eric Friedler's critically acclaimed documentary, Aghet - A Genocide (Aghet-Ein Völkermord) which is produced by ARD television network of Germany. Friedler is the recipient of the festival's prestigious Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award, which is annually awarded to a filmmaker who contributes to the fight for social justice and human rights. Friedler will be in attendance to receive the honorary award and take part in a discussion about the film.
In addition, this year marks the inaugural launch of the Francophone-Fest Cinema side bar with the festival's 2010 Career Achievement Award presentation to Sérge Avedikian, Paris-based filmmaker and 2010 Palm D'Or- Short Film winner for Chiennes D'Histoire (Barking Island). The filmmaker will be in attendance to accept the award.
At the EDN Online Pitching four documentary projects are pitched to a group of leading international financiers and decision makers. Each session will have a specific focus like science, history or cross platform. The pitching takes place online in the EDN Video Conference Room and each session lasts one hour. The first session, which will be focusing on cross platform projects, will take place on September 30, 2010 at 14:00.
Upon the announcement of this new format EDN Head of Office Cecilia Lidin said:
The aim of the EDN Online Pitching Sessions is to create a forum where documentary projects with a specific focus can be introduced and discussed. This low cost online set-up makes it possible for EDN to create space for introductions and discussions of themes and focuses not always possible in the offline world. It is an effective way of creating new networks and structures within the documentary sector'
The Best of Festival award went to "Bag It!" by Reel Thing. The film follows a self-proclaimed "average guy" who undertakes a global pilgrimage to explore the plastic in our world and to understand its impact on the health of our bodies and our world. The film also debunks the idea of disposable, single-use plastic. Last year's Best of Festival was presented to The Cove, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
Disneynature's epic documentary "OCEANS," narrated by Pierce Brosnan, walked away with Best Original Music Score and Best Theatrical film, offering a never-before-seen look at astounding creatures beneath the sea.
Other awards presented at the BLUE Carpet Awards included:
Best Broadcast Film: Sea Studio Foundation/NatGeo "Strange Days on Planet Earth: Dirty Secrets".
Best Film on Marine Animal Behavior: "Life: Fish" by the BBC.
Best Non-Broadcast Film: Mountain and Sea Productions' "Isla Holbox - Whale Shark Island".
Best Film on Land-Sea Connection: "Bering Sea: Ecosystem in Crisis" by Brent Balalas.
Best Ocean Exploration and Adventure Film: "Jean Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures: America's Underwater Treasures" by Ocean Futures Society.
Best Children's Programming: "The Krill is Gone" by Deep Green Films.
Best Dot Doc: "Willem and the Whales" by MMCTA.
Best Ocean Sports Film: "The Ultimate Wave Tahiti" by Perfect Wave Inc.
Best Underwater Cinematography: NHU Africa's "Into the Dragon's Lair".
Emerging Underwater Filmmaker: Andrew Stevenson's "Where the Whales Sing".
Best Short Film: "Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification" by NRDC and Sherry Goldberg.
Best Monterey Bay Feature: "Il Mare di Joe" by ETHNOS and Enzo Incontro.
Best National Marine Sanctuary Short: "In the Wake of Giants", by Akua Films.
Best Student Filmmaker: "Chasing Giants" by Chris Hanson and Chris Fedor.
Best Marine Earth Sciences Film: "One Ocean: Changing Seas" by Merit Moron Pictures.
Best Spanish Language Film: "Luchando Por La Vida, Una Historia Del Mar" by Carlos Roberto Riveras.
Special Jury Award: "Under the Sea 3D" by Howard and Michelle Hall.
Premiering at BLUE were films "SoLa, Louisiana Water Stories" by Oceans 8, "Beneath the Blue" by Michael D. Sellers and "Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist" by Bluerage Media and Peter Brown.
At the BLUE Carpet Awards Ceremony, the BLUE Ocean Film Festival also introduced two prestigious awards for outstanding accomplishments in environmental stewardship:
The "Making Waves Award" honors those, who, in the words of the West Point Cadet Maxim, "risk more than others think is safe, care more than others think is wise, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more that others think is possible." This year, Jean-Michel Cousteau, son Fabien Cousteau and daughter Celine Cousteau were honored with a special tribute to patriarch and pioneering ocean adventurer Jacques Yves Cousteau.
The "Sylvia Earle Award" for outstanding ocean advocacy was presented to Dr. Carl Safina for his accomplishments in the areas of conservation policy and environmental stewardship.
Other featured guests at the festival included Julie Packard, David Doubilet, Don Hahn, Howard Hall, Bob Talbot, Greg Stone and other film and environmental ocean leaders.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the presenting sponsor for this year's BLUE Ocean Film Festival. Other lead sponsors included Cannery Row Company, Amphibico, Scott Hanson Studios, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Make a Difference Media, Code Blue Foundation, Ocean Today, Google, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Portola Hotel & Spa, City of Monterey, Disneynature, Panasonic, Dolby, Christie, MacGillivray Freeman Foundation, Monterey County Weekly, Monterey Conference Center, Fujinon, ImmersionOOH, Light & Motion, PADI, National Ocean Service, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, FootageSearch/ OceanFootage, Backscatter, beBLUU, Center for Environmental Filmmaking, Pebble Beach Company, Sea Studios Foundation, KUSP, Oceana, International League of Conservation Photographers, Sanibel Sea School, The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation, Environmental Relations, Lighthouse Cinemas, Shark Research Institute, National Geographic, ARKive, SeaWeb, Center for Ocean Solutions, Oceanwide Expeditions, Realscreen, MMCTA, Display Point Holdings, Inc., Sun-plugged, Max Davis Company, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Feodor Pitcairn Productions, The Robert S. & Grayce B. Kerr Foundation, World-Wire, KION46, Coastal Television Network, "Thank You Ocean" and The Inns of Monterey.
Since its inaugural event in 2008, the film festival has developed into a major regional event that gives filmmakers in the community an opportunity to make advances in the film industry while at the same time encouraging long-term economic development to North Florida.
"The Tallahassee Film Festival is poised to achieve exactly what the first Knight Creative Communities Initiative class intended. It serves to attract and grow business development that will keep talented, creative people in our community," said Chucha Barber, Chair, Tallahassee Film Festival. "With the core focus as education and our outstanding partnerships with Florida State University, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Community College and Leon County Schools, this film festival has a unique personality that is celebrated by film makers from all over the world and it's positive reputation growing. Whether you are a film lover or a filmmaker, the fourth annual film festival is going to reel' you in."
In addition to the emphasis of economic success, the Tallahassee Film Festival works to provide educational initiatives for students, emerging and seasonal professionals. Throughout the festival, educational panels and workshops are held along with "Question and Answer" sessions and after parties following the screenings to offer meaningful interaction between the filmmakers and attendees. The Tallahassee Film Festival is constantly evolving, redefining their tactics and modify their approach to reach the creative class of Tallahassee.
"I am extremely proud of the work of our all-volunteer festival committee. They are thrilled to be part of the continuing development of the festival while contributing to the positive impact on North Florida's film industry," said Carolyn Smith, Director, Tallahassee Film Festival. "We have captured a truly entertaining festival that excites people of all ages. We encourage community members to get involved as sponsors, volunteers, and patrons. Their support is crucial!"
The Tallahassee Film Festival Board of Directors and countless volunteers are now gearing up for the 2011 Festival, which will take place April 6-10 2011.
http://www.tallahasseefilmfestival.com/
Inauguration de l'Exposition "Violence et passion - le cinéma de Luchino Visconti"
Autour des grilles de l'Hôtel du Département (17 septembre - 14 novembre 2010)
Inauguration ouverte à tous, merci de confirmer votre présence par courriel : protocole@rhone.fr
Cette exposition, en plein air et en accès libre accompagne la rétrospective des films de Luchino Visconti.
Mardi 28 septembre 19h
Inauguration du Village cinéma
Entre deux séances, rendez-vous dans le village, au cur du festival. Dans le jardin de l'Institut Lumière, un espace convivial ouvert à tous, sur le lieu même de l'invention du Cinématographe : Boutique DVD, livres, café et restaurant, rencontres et signatures, exposition "Anthony Quinn"...
Entrée libre - Ouvert du mardi 28 septembre (19h) au dimanche 10 octobre, de 9h à 20h.
Parc de l'Institut Lumière, 25 rue du Premier-Film, Lyon 8e.
Mercredi 29 septembre à 14h30
Après-midi en famille, au village et sous le Hangar du Premier-Film !
Découvrez le village et visitez le Hangar du Premier-Film : projections permanentes et
goûter pour les enfants ! (entrée libre)
Lundi 4 octobre à 20h
Soirée d'ouverture à la Halle Tony Garnier
En présence de Stanley Donen et de nombeuses personnalités du cinéma
Chantons sous la pluie de Stanley Donen et Gene Kelly
Mercredi 6 octobre à 14h30
Séance Jeune Public à la Halle Tony Garnier
Le Roi et l'oiseau de de Paul Grimault
Projections surprises en avant-programme et goûter offert !
Mercredi 6 octobre à 20h30
Ciné-concert à l'Auditorium de Lyon
Sublimes moments du muet : Le Cameraman d'Edward Sedgwick avec Buster Keaton
Accompagnement musical par l'Orchestre national de Lyon dirigé par Timothy Brock
Vendredi 8 octobre à 20h45
Nuit de la comédie américaine à la Halle Tony Garnier
The Big Lebowski de Joel et Ethan Coen
Un jour sans fin de Harold Ramis
Elle de Blake Edwards
Tonnerre sous les tropiques de Ben Stiller
Pendant la nuit, possibilité de faire une pause derrière l'écran ! Des tapis de sol et des coussins seront à disposition pendant les projections. Tous les films seront précédés d'extraits des plus grandes scènes comiques de l'histoire du cinéma. Toute la nuit, bar ouvert (café, bières) et possibilité de restauration légère. Au petit matin, à la fin du dernier film, le festival vous offre le petit déjeuner !
Samedi 9 octobre (en soirée)
Remise du Prix Lumière à Milos Forman, Amphithéâtre - Centre de Congrès
Amadeus Director's Cut de Milos Forman
La billetterie de cette séance sera mise en vente dans quelques jours.
Dimanche 10 octobre à 15h
Séance de clôture à la Halle Tony Garnier
En présence d'Alain Delon (sous réserve) et Claudia Cardinale
Le Guépard de Luchino Visconti
La billetterie de cette séance sera mise en vente dans quelques jours.
www.institut-lumiere.org
www.festival-lumiere.org
The following unannounced Sneak Previews screened at the 37th Telluride Film Festival:
127 HOURS (d. Danny Boyl, U.S., 2010)
BLACK SWAN (d. Darren Aronofsky, U.S., 2010)
Participating in seminars and panels ranging from cinema to culture to nature, and everything in between were Festival guests: Olivier Assayas, Danny Boyle, Claudia Cardinale, Lavinia Currier, Shlomi Eldar, Charles Ferguson, Colin Firth, James Franco, Stephen Frears, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Werner Herzog, Tom Hooper, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ben Mankiewicz, Lesley Manville, Greil Marcus, Errol Morris, Michael Ondaatje, Aron Ralston, Geoffrey Rush, Peter Sellars, Bertrand Tavernier and Peter Weir.
Additional attending Festival guests and program participants include:
Ehud Bleiberg, Serge Bromberg, James Bruce, Ken Burns, Justin Chadwick, Lee Chang-dong, Mark Cousins, Jake Eberts, Ralph Eggleston, Michelangelo Frammartino Sasha Waters Freyer, Andrew Garfield, Alex Garland, Ed Harris, Naomie Harris, Jan-Christopher Horak, Dennis Jakob, Harutyun Khachatryan, Kent Jones, Stanton Kaye, Bob Last, Richard Leacock, Phillip Lopate, Audrey Marrs, Kris Marshall, Craig McCall, Todd McCarthy, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Carey Mulligan, Alexander Nanau, Bill Plympton, Edgar Ramirez, Kirill Razlogov, Mark Romanek, Judith Rosenberg, Teri Schwartz, Florin Serban, Fernando Trueba, Paolo Cherchi Usai, Sami van Ingen, Denis Villeneuve, Jane Weiner and Jon Wilkman.
Previously announced Silver Medallion honorees were Claudia Cardinale, Colin Firth and Peter Weir. The Special Medallion went to UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Films previously announced that played in the official 37th Telluride Film Festival program:
A LETTER TO ELIA (d. Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, U.S., 2010)
ANOTHER YEAR (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2010)
BIUTIFUL (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexico, 2010)
CARLOS (d. Olivier Assayas, France, 2010)
CHICO AND RITA (d. Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Spain-Cuba, 2010)
THE FIRST GRADER (d. Justin Chadwick, U.K., 2010)
THE FIRST MOVIE (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2009)
HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA (d. Dmitry Vasyukov with Werner Herzog, Germany, 2010)
IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE (d. Florin Serban, Romania, 2010)
THE ILLUSIONIST (d. Sylvain Chomet, U.K., France, 2010)
INCENDIES (d. Denis Villeneuve, Canada, 2010)
INSIDE JOB (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2010)
THE KINGS SPEECH (d. Tom Hooper, U.K., 2010)
LE QUATTRO VOLTE (d. Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, 2010)
NEVER LET ME GO (d. Mark Romanek, U.K./U.S., 2010)
OF GODS AND MEN (d. Xavier Beauvois, France, 2010)
OKA! AMERIKEE (d. Lavinia Currier, U.S.-Central African Republic, 2010)
POETRY (d. Lee Chang-dong, Korea, 2010)
PRECIOUS LIFE (d. Shlomi Eldar, Israel, 2010)
THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (d. Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2010)
TABLOID (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2010)
TAMARA DREWE (d. Stephen Frears, U.K., 2010)
THE TENTH INNING (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2010)
THE WAY BACK (d. Peter Weir, U.K., 2010)
To view the entire 37th Telluride Film Festival program, visit: www.telluridefilmfestival.org
Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island, will screen the official opening and closing films
A special film series to be presented at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut
Providence, RI (August, 2010) - The 1st Edition of the New England Festival of Ibero-American Cinema (NEFIAC) is approaching, and these three wonderful cities will be host to a bevy of international films and artists in association with three world-renowned universities.
As a teaser, Harvard University, will host a pre-festival screening of Aquele querido mes de agosto (Our Beloved Month of August) on Friday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archives. The award-winning Portuguese director, Miguel Gomes, will be present at the screening.
Aquele querido mes de agosto will also open the special film series of NEFIAC to be hosted by Yale University, which will take place between the 22 and 26 of September. In addition to the films, there will be a number of "Meet the Director" events where film directors and actors will be present to answer questions from the viewing public. Of special note, a series of short films will be screened to coincide with the third edition of Desde Cuba: New cinema, on Thursday, September 23 at 9pm.
The edition of NEFIAC-Yale will be closing on September 26 with another award winning film Felicitas, of Argentinean director María Teresa Constantini, who will be present during the screening.
Brown University will host the official opening film on Saturday, September 18 at the landmark Avon Cinema, with the projection of the French-Spanish co-production, Celda 211 (2009), by the acclaimed director, Daniel Monzón. We are proud to announce the New England premiere for this film, which broke all box office records during its theatrical run in Spain and won 8 Goya awards in 2010 for Best Film, Best Director, Best New Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay among them.
The festival will begin in Providence on Saturday, September 18 through until Saturday, September 25. We will close with the Cuba-Spain production, El cuerno de la abundancia (Horn of Plenty), another New England premiere, by world renown director Juan Carlos Tabío; an award-winning comedy that will allow the audience to enjoy some of the best Cuban performers, such as Mirtha Ibarra, Vladimir Cruz and Jorge Perugurría. In addition, a selection of films and special panels will be presented on the Brown campus and open to the general public.
During the whole festival, the films will be screened throughout New England at the following venues:
CAMBRIDGE, MA: Harvard Film Archive
PROVIDENCE, RI: Avon Cinema, Cable Car Cinema, List Art Center, Watson
Institute forInternational Studies
NEW HAVEN, CT: The Whitney Humanities Center, Linsly-Chittenden Hall,
212 York Street.
Ticket sales and additional info at www.nefiac.com
Like in previous years this year's festival edition will feature its share of premieres, inspiring film talks, international stars and unforgettable moments.
Pascal Bourdiaux' "Le Mac" guarantees to evoke laughter from any audience. The French comedy is witty, has a classy cast and a subtlety that has made it an instant hit across the border. "Mr. Nice" is Bernard Rose's British answer to "Blow", portraying the life of legendary drug dealer Howard Marks. Marks himself will be attending the festival in Oldenburg. Wicked humor, ironic side blows and a star-studded cast are the ingredients for the pitch-black comedy "Pete Smalls Is Dead" offering a deep glimpse into the dark heart of independent cinema. Alexandre Rockwell is presenting his film, featuring Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage and Seymour Cassel. Camera legend Phedon Papamichael is famous for his gorgeous images ("Walk the Line", "Sideways"). In his third work as a director he turns "Arcadia Lost" into a memorial made of film. His brilliant star Nick Nolte travels to the spiritual roots of Papamichael's home in Greece, which regains its classical mythic aura. Kate Connor is also searching for her roots in the thrilling "Fort McCoy". She is presenting the world premiere of her film in person, revealing a little known aspect of German history. A film of alien qualities is directing duo Amber Benson's and Adam Busch's creative and heart-warming sci-fi office comedy "Drones". The two are well known for their acting roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and have now taken up position behind the camera. Paul Gordon's charming and subtle comedy "The Happy Poet" is a wonderful topical tale with an important message: It pays to be perseverant. After the world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival the film has its German premiere in Oldenburg. Forceful, permissive and energetic is the rhythm of Isild Le Besco's furious directing debut "Bas-fonds". She pulls us right over the abyss of human existence and casts off all expectations of bourgeois society. She has been nominated twice for the César as best young actress working with the likes of Benoît Jacquot. Yony Leyser tries to get close to an enigmatic genius with his internationally acclaimed documentary "William S. Burroughs: A Man Within". The infamous legend of the beat-generation comes to live once again with all his splendor and paranoia. Oscar winner Leon Gast presents "Smash His Camera": An inside look at the world of paparazzi through the life of legendary star photographer Ron Galellas, who rose to fame when Marlon Brando broke his jaw and Jackie Kennedy sued him.
Program, timetable and images are available at: http://www.filmfest-oldenburg.de/presse/downloads/
This time round, the Digital Forum will look at a global subject affecting artistic production and direction, new film/TV developments and consumer trends, and the transformation processes occurring throughout the value chain as a result of digital technology.
Following the success of its first edition, the Digital Forum is shaping up as a meeting not to be missed within the audiovisual sector. A place at which to discuss and share needs, opportunities and concerns related to the process of moving towards the digital world and the challenges brought by these new formats.
Thus, San Sebastian Festival once again expresses its undertaking with the movie industry of the future.
The programme for this 2nd edition is as follows:
Thursday, 16 September:
1. 3D. Here to stay? Analysis of new audiovisual consumer trends reflecting the growing popularity of 3D productions.
2. Digital technologies and new systems of production. Is TV drawing increasingly closer to cinema? Identification of how the differences between cinema and TV are narrowing with the use of digital technology in both media.
3. Digital cinema and freedom of transformation of the creative process Offering an overall view of how digital technology seems to generate a much more instinctive and intuitive system of creation.
4. Internet, cinema and democracy: A look at how Internet, as a means of diffusion, has caused a revolution in the generation of content and creative processes.
Friday, 17 September:
1. Documentary cinema in the digital era. A technology conditioning new forms of interpreting reality? Based on the Thematic Retrospective at the 58th San Sebastian Festival, ".doc - New paths of non-fiction", we will analyse how this genre assumes new challenges with regard to the content or language brought by digital technology.
2. Digital cinema, new financing models. An overall view of the business opportunities and financial returns offered by integrating digital techniques to all processes.
The Digital Forum is intended for all entities involved in the field who wish to know more about their competitive environment, such as producers, distributors, exhibitors, TV networks, agencies, technological providers, audiovisual companies in general, sociologists and analysts. All those wishing to learn about and understand the fascinating opportunities offered by the cinema of 2000 are very welcome.
When:
- Thursday, 16 September 2010. Time: 09:30 - 18:30.
- Friday, 17 September 2010. Time: 09:30 - 12:30.
Where: Rooms 8 & 9 of the Kursaal Centre, Avda. de la Zurriola, 1 - 20002 San Sebastián
Registration is free of charge and limited to available seating in the different rooms. To register, click here and complete the online form with your details
THE SHOW'
37th Telluride Film Festival is pleased to present the following new feature films to play in the SHOW':
A LETTER TO ELIA (d. Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, U.S., 2010)
ANOTHER YEAR (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2010)
BIUTIFUL (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexico, 2010)
CARLOS (d. Olivier Assayas, France, 2010)
CHICO AND RITA (d. Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Spain-Cuba, 2010)
THE FIRST GRADER (d. Justin Chadwick, U.K., 2010)
THE FIRST MOVIE (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2009)
HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA (d. Dmitry Vasyukov with Werner Herzog, Germany, 2010)
IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE (d. Florin Şerban, Romania, 2010)
THE ILLUSIONIST (d. Sylvain Chomet, U.K., France, 2010)
INCENDIES (d. Denis Villeneuve, Canada, 2010)
INSIDE JOB (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2010)
THE KING'S SPEECH (d. Tom Hooper, U.K., 2010)
LE QUATTRO VOLTE (d. Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, 2010)
NEVER LET ME GO (d. Mark Romanek, U.K./U.S., 2010)
OF GODS AND MEN (d. Xavier Beauvois, France, 2010)
OKA! AMERIKEE (d. Lavinia Currier, U.S.-Central African Republic, 2010)
POETRY (d. Lee Chang-dong, Korea, 2010)
PRECIOUS LIFE (d. Shlomi Eldar, Israel, 2010)
THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (d. Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2010)
TABLOID (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2010)
TAMARA DREWE (d. Stephen Frears, U.K., 2010)
THE TENTH INNING (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2010)
THE WAY BACK (d. Peter Weir, U.K., 2010)
In keeping with Festival tradition, additional "Sneak Previews" are expected to surprise attendees over the weekend. Sneaks will be announced on the Telluride Film Festival webpage throughout the weekend.
MEDALLION AWARDS
TFF is proud to honor the following three recipients with its Silver Medallion awards, given to recognize an artist's significant contribution to the world of cinema:
CLAUDIA CARDINALE - Italian film star Claudia Cardinale (8 ½, THE LEOPARD, THE PINK PANTHER) will receive the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview conducted by Hilton Als (Saturday) and Davia Nelson (Sunday). The program will include a screening of Valerio Zurlini's GIRL WITH A SUITCASE (Italy, 1961).
COLIN FIRTH - Telluride audiences will be the first to see British actor Colin Firth's performance in THE KING'S SPEECH. The film will be preceded by a survey of Firth's career (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, A SINGLE MAN), the presentation of the Silver Medallion and an onstage interview with Davia Nelson (Sunday) and Todd McCarthy (Monday).
PETER WEIR - Filmmaker Peter Weir (WITNESS, THE TRUMAN SHOW, MASTER AND COMMANDER) will be presented with the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview with Leonard Maltin (Friday) and Scott Foundas (Saturday). A screening of Weir's lost classic THE PLUMBER (Australia, 1976) and his latest film, THE WAY BACK, will screen during the Festival.
UCLA Film & Television Archive will receive this year's Special Medallion award, which honors a hero of cinema - an organization or individual - that preserves, honors and presents great movies. Festival guests will be treated to a special program put together by Archive director Jan-Christopher Horak entitled: TREASURES FROM UCLA. Two films from the Archive will play elsewhere in the program: the 1927 film CHICAGO, recently discovered in Cecil B. DeMille's vaults and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, will screen with a live, original score performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra; and Stanton Kaye's 1968 film, BRANDY IN THE WILDERNESS, a scheduled restoration by UCLA.
For the first time, Telluride Film Festival is presenting digital in all its venues. Dolby's Digital Cinema server is being used throughout the four-day festival in its three largest venues. Dolby is facilitating a program of 3D featuring rare works from the 1890s through 2010 in RETOUR DE FLAMME IN 3D, curated and performed by Serge Bromberg with live piano and stories. Dolby 3D Digital Cinema technology, in conjunction with BARCO digital cinema projectors provides TFF with an efficient and flexible solution designed to deliver a superior 3D experience. Dolby, together with Cinedigm, Barco and Boston Light and Sound, has moved TFF forward into a completely state of the art film festival.
GUEST DIRECTOR PROGRAMS
Guest Director Michael Ondaatje presents six films spanning the last four decades of the 20th century:
THE ASCENT (d. Larisa Shepitko, U.S.S.R., 1977, archive print)
CONFIDENCE (d. István Szabó, Hungary, 1980, archive print )
FAT CITY (d. John Huston, U.S., 1972, archive print) followed by an interview with author Leonard Gardner
HERE'S YOUR LIFE (d. Jan Troell, Sweden, 1966, restoration print from the Swedish Institute)
THE HUSTLER (d. Robert Rossen, U.S., 1961, archive print)
MOTHER DAO, THE TURTLELIKE (d. Vincent Monnikendam, Netherlands, 1995, archive print )
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